I don’t think I understood (maybe I had not even heard of?) the power of beliefs or even what they were until I went to Life Coaching school in 2004. My background in science never included this. I wonder how many other people knew about and understood the power of beliefs almost twenty years ago. How many people understand their power and influence now? I hear about and read about the power of belief and changing beliefs a lot now, but maybe that is because of what I read and being a life coach.
I have written about the Power of Belief before. Most of our beliefs are unconscious. We don’t even know that we have them which makes them very difficult to identify and change. Our beliefs literally filter and shape how and what we see in the world around us. They also shape our behaviors and therefore our results in life.
I am currently reading the book, Wired For Wealth by Brad Klontz, Ted Klontz and Rick Kahler for Money Made Meaningful’s very first BookChat on Wednesday, August 18th.
This book’s subtitle is: “Change the Money Mindsets that Keep You Trapped and Unleash Your Wealth Potential.”
To help with identifying money scripts, The Wired for Wealth book gives “Ten Money Scripts that Mess Up People’s Financial Lives.”
They are:
“More money will make things better.”
“Money is bad.”
“I don’t deserve money.”
“I deserve to spend money.”
“There will never be enough money.”
“There will always be enough money.”
“Money is unimportant.”
“Money will give my life meaning.”
“It is not nice (or necessary) to talk about money.”
“If you are good, the universe will supply all your needs.”
Which of these do you most identify with?
Which do you know you don’t agree with?
How do the money scripts you most identify with show up in your life?
What do they say and mean to you?
These scripts are related to categories of beliefs that generally have negative impacts on our financial situation. Beliefs are usually formed before the age of five and come from associations and lessons that are linked to big emotions. The belief may have made sense at a certain time, or it was your young mind learning a script that was meant to help you and keep you safe based on the people, information and experiences around you. There are often many layers of beliefs. The good news is that since these scripts were learned, you can unlearn them and replace them with better, more positive or empowering scripts and beliefs.
I know from my own self development work and working with clients that belief work or mindset work can make a HUGE difference. Yet, I also know that it can be difficult and feel frustrating and uncomfortable. How do you work on something that is buried and unconscious? It can feel like trying to fight or identify something that you don’t even see or know is there. I truly believe the payoff is worth the effort yet, it often is not easy.
I am not saying that to discourage anyone but to help set expectations. Belief work can feel challenging. That is what I have been experiencing while reading this book.
For belief work, we need to make some effort to really notice and figure out what limiting belief is buried. Sometimes we can look at our behaviors and results to “back into” or figure out what our beliefs are.
I remember in my first money belief seminar, my limiting belief was that “I am not good enough to have a lot of money.” Similar to the third script listed above. Some valid questions are: What is “a lot” of money? What is being good enough? I was living within my means. I made a good salary. I paid my bills on time and was responsible and saving some money. Yet, I still worried about money. I didn’t feel like I had a lot of money. I still wanted more. Everything is relative. I did not have a lot of confidence in myself at that time. I was a saver but I was not able to enjoy how I was spending my money.
After changing this belief, I remember how much freer and less guilty I felt not just about money but almost about everything. I was not beating myself up as much and everything FELT different. I did not feel the need to be so responsive and reactionary to pleasing everyone around me. I still have work to do on this front but I was able to honestly notice a significant difference in how I felt. It is hard to explain and I remember thinking before I actually experienced it, that some of these people are just making this up and exaggerating or pretending. I remember a women in the seminar who said that she felt like the silence in her head was almost deafening after changing a limiting belief, because the number of negative voices in her head had almost disappeared. The shift was dramatic for her.
Bottom line, I truly believe belief work and figuring out your money scripts can lead to big changes, and changes not only limited to your financial life. It is an internal change that will then create outside differences. I used to doubt this was possible but now I know it is true. The Wired for Wealth book gives many exercises and questions for you to answer to help you with the process. The authors studied the mindsets of those who are wealthy and have healthy relationships with money and those that do not. They found consistent money scripts and actions for each group that they are trying to teach and explain in the book.
As usual, I feel like there is so much more to this than I can write about here. My intention is just to get you thinking about and noticing what your own money scripts and / or beliefs may be. I hope I have piqued your curiosity and I encourage you to pick up the Wired For Wealth book and join us for our first BookChat.
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